Means for reinforcing and binding concrete.



G. E. ESCHER. MEANS F 0R REINFORCING AND BINDING CONCRETE.

Patented June 29, 1915.

/ 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3| I914.

l5 EH G. E. ESCHER- MEANS FOR R EINFORCING AND BINDING CONCRETE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1914.

1 1,144,536., Patented June 29, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES Paar ores.

Mann's non nnrnroncms nun BINDING CONCRETE.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented am so, 1915.

flppl-idation filed November 3, 1914. Serial no. 70,028.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GUSTAV EDWARD ESCHER, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of South Orange, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Reinforcing and Binding Concrete to Structural Members, of which the following is a specifica-tion.

M invention relates to means for reinforcing and for binding concrete to sham tura'l members, such as I beams.

In building construction for the purpose of adding additional strength and also as a protection against fire and the elements, it is a matter of common practice "to inclose me'tal girders in an 'incasem'ent of concrete. It is well known that concrete requires remforcement and support, where as in the application of concrete to the lower section of an I beam, there is no structural means of supporting the concrete, it has been found necessary to supply metallic reinforcements secured to said lowersecti'on of the I beam by engagement with the longitudinal flanges of such beam. I I

I am aware that devices of this nature are generically known in the art, hence I 'do not intend to claim the same broadly, but in the operation of such devices, I have experienced certain difficulties which it is the purpose of my present invention to overcome.

One of these d'ifliculties resides in the fact that the hook members adapted to engage the opposite flanges of the base of the I beam are constructed without means to hold them in engagementwith such flanges, and.

consequently they are liable to be released from their engagement in the operation of applying the concrete or otherwise. My purpose is to provide means to hold the said hook in engagement with said flanges, so that theymay not be displaced in the process of applying the concrete or otherwise. I have also observed that advantages are at tained by interposing a loop member between the hook member and the other reinforcing elements, which loop extendsbeyond the foot of the beam and returns to a point a suitable distance from the lower surface of the-beam where it is attached to the other reinforcing members, thus forming a reinforcing structure which is sustained at a suitable distance from the surface of the beam so that when the concrete is applied, such reinforcement will be approximately of, so as to give appropriate strength where strength is required at this point.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, designating the parts by numerals and referring to like parts by like numerals.

Figure 1 is a vertical section showing an I beam with the reinforcement'applied at the foot thereof and the concrete embracing the whole in the usual manner. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the I beam with my reinforcement attached thereto before the concrete is applied said view being taken from the base of the beam. Fig. 3 shows my device as the same is manufactured and before application to the I beam. Fig. 4 is another form of construction of the device shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the reinforcement as the same is bent in the process of application to the I beam. Fig. 6 is an end View of Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views of a second form of construction of the reinforcing device. Figs. 9 andlO are details in perspective of two forms of hook and loop members, hereafter to be described. 1 is an I beam set in a body of concrete as 1; 2 and 3 are the respective edges of the lower section of said I beam; 4 (Fig. 3) is a continuous wire while 5 is a hook and loop member secured to the straight wire 4 by twisting as at 13. v

In Fig. 4:, I show a sccondform of construction, wherein the hook member 5 is elongated as at 12, so that the member 4: instead of being continuous and unbroken is made up of a series of sectional parts such as 12 integral with the hook 5, a union being accomplished by twisting the wire as at 13.

In Figs. 9 and 10, I have shown two forms of hook members both adapted to accomplish the same result. In Fig. 9, 6 is an arm intended to be secured by twisting or otherwise to the straight member 4:, or where the construction formed shown in Fig. 4 is employed bent at right angles as at 6 to form the continuous member 12. 7 is "a bend at right angles to 6, and 8 a bend at dimension. I have characterized t right angles to 9, and 11 a bend at right angles to 10. In Fig. 10, I vary this construction slightly by bending 14 at right angles to 7, making the loop 15 and the 5 hook comprising the parts 16, 17 and 18.

The hooks last described which I have designated as a whole by the figure 5 are secured to the straight member 4 alternately on either side of-said member 4 with the hook members oppositely disposed, so that in the operation to be described, they will alternately grip the opposite edges of the foot of the beam.

\Vhile I have described the element 4 as being primarily straight, I do not intend to limit myself to that form. The reinforcement may be made and sold substantially in the form shown in Fig. 5; that is to say, partially and permanently distorted to a 20 predetermined dimension, but within certain limitations, so that when applied to the beam, it will still require distortion of the member 4 and the placing of the same under stress or strain to accomplish the hooking of the oppositely disposed hooks over the oppositeedges of the beam, so that'the spring tension will be constantly maintained between the hooks, in the operation of gripping the beam.

i In Figs. 7 and 8, I show a second form of construction wherein I employ two wires as 19 and 19 instead of one wire as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. These two wires 19 and 19 are secured together at suitable intervals as at'20 by any appropriate means. The hook members 5 are secured respectively one to each of said wires intermediate said securing means 20, as at 21. Fig. 7 illustrates the device previous to its application, while in 4 Fig. 8, the wires 19 and 19 are distorted by pulling the hooks 5 sufiiciently apart to embrace the foot of the I beam.

The reinforcement above described is intended to be formed of wire or other suitable metal having the property of being resilient;

sion directed to restore the same to its original and normal position, that is to say operating with a spring tension. The reinforcement is made of a size so that when the hooks 5 embrace the edges 2'and 3 of the I beam 1, a spring action emanating from the members 4, 12 or 19, as the case maybe, operates to hold said hook members 5 in engagement with said flanges of the beam. I apply the reinforcement by first attaching one hook to one edge of the beam, then bending the member 4 etc., so as to cause the next hook to engage the opposite edge of the beam, then bending the straight member 4 again so as to engage a third hook with the edge of the beam, and so continuously until the required length is reinforced. From what has been said, it will be understood that the elasticity of the prime member 4, when distorted as indicated in the process of applicationto the beam, will operate to hold said hooks '5 in engagement with the edge of the beam.

As previously stated, one of the features of my invention resides in the fact that I so dispose the reinforcement that it is separated from the lower surface of the beam and centrally disposed in the concrete in that area. This is illustrated in Fig. 1 where emanating from the hook 5, it will be seen that the loop 7 extends beyondthe edge of the beam downwardly and makes connection with the straight member 4 at 13. Thus it will be noted that the elements 4, 6 and 7 are permanently sustained at a point adjacent the lower surface of the beam, but sufficiently removed therefrom to permit the free access of the concrete intermediate such reinforcement and the lower surface of the beam, so that such reinforcement is approximately centrally disposed in that area of concrete within which it is embraced.

The operation of the other form of construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8 will be obvious from what has been said. The hooks are drawn apart, thus distorting the wire 19 and generating a stress or strain therein, operating with a spring tension to draw the hooks together.v When the hooks are in engagement with the flanges 2 and 3, this spring tension operates to hold them in such relation. In this structure, the hooks instead of being alternately disposed on a single Wire are oppositely sposed on the double wires. 1

What I claim is:

1. Means for reinforcing and binding concrete about a structural member, comprising a resilient substantially straight member provided with hook members on opposite sides thereof longitudinally spaced in staggered relation, the resilient member being distorted laterally in opposite directions to form a zigzag to permit the hooks to engage the sides or flanges of the structural member, whereby the resilient member tends to straighten and thus hold the hooks elastically in engagement with the structural member.

2. Means for reinforcing and binding concrete about a structural member, comprising a normally substantially straight member of resilient material, in combination with a plurality of members, each having a hook at one end adapted to engage the edge of a flange of the structural member,

Llam s with a loop dependent from said hook, the other ends of the loops secured to the re silient member, said hook and loop members being secured to said resilient member at intervals, the hooks oppositely disposed, the loops adapted to space apart the reinforcement from the face of the structural member, the resilient member being laterally distorted in opposite directions to form a zigzag-to permit the hooks to engage the opposite flanges of the structural member, the resilience due to such distortion operating to bind the hooks to the flanges of the structural member by an elastic engagement.

3. Means for reinforcing and binding concrete about-a structural member, comprising a normally substantially straight member of resilient material, in combinationwith a plurality of members, each having a hook at one end adapted to engage the edge of a flange of the structural member, with a loop dependent from said hook and extending beyond and below the edge of the flange of the structural member, the other ends of the loops secured to the resilient member, said hook and loop members being secured to said resilient member at intervals, the hooks oppositely disposed,

the loops adapted to space apart the reinforcement from the face of the structural member, the resilient member being laterally distorted in opposite directions to form a zigzag to permit the hooks to engage the flanges of the structural member, the resili'ence due to such distortion operating to bind the hooks to'the flanges of the structural member by an elastic engagement.

4. Means for reinforcing and binding concrete to a structural member having a plane face bounded by longitudinal flanges comprising a resilient member, provided with oppositely disposed hook members secured thereto, the normal width between the hooks being less than that between the flanges, the resilient member distorted laterally in opposite directions'to form a zigzag so as to permit the hooks to engage the flanges, the resilience due to such distortion operatin to bind the hooks'to'the flanges by an e astic engagement, with means to face and edges of the structural member.

space apart such reinforcement from the a 5. Means for reinforcing and binding concrete to a structural member having a a tween the flanges, the resilient member distorted laterally, in opposite directions to form a zigzag so as to permit the hooks to engage the flanges, the resilience due to such distortion operating to bind the hooks to the flanges by an elastic engagement.

6. Means for reinforcing and binding concrete to a structural member having a plane face bounded by longitudinal flanges, comprising a resilient member in combination with a plurality of members each having a hook at one end adapted to engage the edgeof the flange of the structural member, with a loop dependent from said hook and extending beyond and below the edge of the flange of the structural member, the other ends of the loops secured to the resilient member at intervals, the hooks being oppositely disposed, the loops adapted to space apart the reinforcement from the structural member, the normal width between the hooks being less than that between the flanges, the resilient member distorted laterally, in opposite directions to form a zigzag so as to permit the hooks to engage the flanges, the resilience due to such distortion operating to bind the hooks to the flanges by an elastic engaement.

Signed by me at New 'ork, N. Y., this 29th day of October, 1914.

GUSTAV EDWARD ESCHER. Witnesses:

CHARLES D. EDWARDS, MARGARET VooEL. 

